Has iOS 4.1 deleted notes on your iPhone? Here’s how to save them

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Where did my notes go?!?

So I updated my iPhone 3G to the new iOS 4.1 firmware that Apple released Wednesday. The new software brought my rusty old device to life except for one thing – all my notes were gone. Sheesh!

I synced my notes over-the-air, via the Gmail and ̑MobileMe cloud, and it used to be a smooth process. I’d update a note on my device and it’d sync the changes with the cloud, allowing me to access the updated content almost instantly on my desktop.

Can you imagine that Apple entirely removed device settings related to notes sync? This appears to affect only older devices because my friends told me sync settings were still present on the iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4 running iOS 4.1.

On the iPhone 3G, however, tapping Mail, Contacts, Calendars in the Settings app no longer shows the Notes sync toggle (other sync-related switches are left intact).

Sure enough, this Apple support document says over-the-air notes syncing is no longer supported on older devices, most likely for the sake of speed:

Not a consolation you wanted to hear, right? Having seen my notes deleted, I almost fell into a cardiac arrest. Luckily, I remembered that iTunes backs up personal information at each sync, including the stuff like bookmarks, notes, or contacts, even if you sync them with the cloud.

Syncing settings in iOS 4 (left) and the new iOS 4.1 (right). Apple, where did my Notes toggle go?

In order to transfer your notes from the most recent iTunes backup to your device, follow these steps:

connect your device to a computer and launch iTunes

select the device from the Devices list in the lefthand column

click the Info tab at the top

scroll down to the Other section and enable the “Sync notes” checkbox

leave the Notes checkbox in the Advanced section unchecked

hit the Apply button and wait a while until iTunes syncs with your iDevice

Upon completion, your notes should automagically appear on your iDevice. Of course, content recency is dependant on the last time you synced with iTunes. The above solution won’t bring back wireless syncing – Apple says that’s a goner on the iPhone 3G and older iPod touches – but at least you’ll salvage your notes and avoid a bag of hurt.